Lignol Announces Grants of Stock Options

VANCOUVER, Jan. 2, 2013 /CNW/ - Lignol Energy Corporation (TSXV: LEC)
("LEC" or "the Company"), today announced that, pursuant to its stock
option plan and subject to regulatory approval, it has granted an
aggregate of 827,500 stock options to its independent directors. The
stock options have an exercise price of $0.15 per share, will vest
quarterly over two years and are exercisable for a period of five
years.

About Lignol Energy Corporation ("LEC")

LEC (TSXV: LEC) owns 100% of the issued and voting shares of Lignol
Innovations Ltd. ("LIL") and owns an 14.9% stake in Australian
Renewable Fuels Ltd (ASX: ARW). LEC also intends to invest in, or
otherwise obtain, equity interests in energy related projects which
have synergies with its biorefining technology.

LIL is a leading technology company in the advanced biofuels and
renewable chemicals sector undertaking the development of biorefining
technologies for the production of advanced biofuels, including
fuel-grade ethanol, and other renewable chemicals from nonfood
cellulosic biomass feedstocks. LIL's modified solvent based
pretreatment technology facilitates the rapid, high-yield conversion of
cellulose to ethanol and the production of value-added biochemical
co-products, including high purity HP-LTM lignins. HP-LTM lignin represents a new class of high purity lignin extractives (and
their subsequent derivatives) which can be engineered to meet the
chemical properties and functional requirements of a range of
industrial applications that until now has not been possible with
traditional lignin byproducts generated from other processes. LIL is
executing on its development plan through strategic partnerships to
further develop and integrate its core technologies on a commercial
scale. For more information please visit Lignol's website at www.lignol.ca.

ARW is the largest biodiesel producer in Australia owning three plants
with a total nameplate capacity of 150 million litres per annum. ARW's
three plants were built at an aggregate cost of approximately A$150
million. ARW has made significant changes in recent years to become a
cost effective producer of high quality biodiesel to address growing
biofuel demand in the Australian market. More information on ARW can
be found at their website; www.arfuels.com.au

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Caution concerning forward-looking statements:

Certain statements contained in this document may constitute
forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities
laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include, without
limitation, statements or information about the conversion of the
Subscription Receipts recently issued as a part of a brokered financing
into Units through the approval of the shareholders of the Company of
certain release conditions, the transaction entered into by ARW and the
resulting change to the LEC equity interest in ARW and to continue as a
going concern and to raise additional financing to fund the operations
of LEC and Lignol, the development status of Lignol's fully integrated
pilot scale biorefinery in Burnaby, British Columbia, the planning and
development of a commercial plant, Lignol's ability to complete project
deliverables which are funded in part by government agencies, obtaining
strategic partnership investments and government funding for initial
commercial projects. Often, but not always, forward looking statements
or information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans",
"expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not
anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or
words and phrases that state or indicate that certain actions, events
or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur
or be achieved.

Such statements or information reflect LEC's current views with respect
to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and
assumptions including, without limitation, our ability to establish the
validity of Lignol's technology at the fully integrated biorefinery
pilot plant scale, Lignol's ability to satisfy the conditions of
existing government grants and to obtain new additional grants, our
ability to continue to finance our operations and to finance and
complete the development of a commercial project, Lignol's ability to
work with Novozymes to produce cellulosic ethanol at production costs
competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol, Lignol's ability to develop
products and to obtain off-take agreements, our ability to obtain
requisite regulatory approvals and our ability to enter into agreements
with strategic partners on terms acceptable to us, the inability to
influence the strategy, operations and financial performance of
Australian Renewable Fuels Limited ("ARW"), the reliance on publically
available information of ARW in the Company's evaluation of its
acquisition of shares in ARW, the potential inability to divest the ARW
ordinary shares due to modest trading volumes, the cost of future ARW
capital investment, the fluctuation of biodiesel and feedstock prices
on ARW, the effect on ARW of changes in government policy relating to
the environment, and incentives for renewable fuels. Many factors could
cause LEC's actual results, performance or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements or information, including among other things, the
technological challenges that remain to be surpassed in obtaining the
necessary operating data from Lignol's fully integrated biorefinery
pilot plant that is required prior to completing the next scale-up of
the technology, financial market conditions which will impact our
ability to finance our operations and to finance the construction and
operation of a commercial plant, the price of gasoline and demand for
ethanol, the market pricing and demand for renewable chemicals, risks
relating to the protection of Lignol's core technology from
infringement and those risk factors which are discussed elsewhere in
documents that LEC files from time to time with securities regulatory
authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking
statements or information prove incorrect, actual results may vary
materially from those described herein as intended planned,
anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Except as required by
law, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to
update or revise any forward looking statements and information whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All written
and oral forward-looking statements and information attributable to us
or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.